I Became the Loan Shark Queen’s Grandson!
Chapter 1
A rooftop room in a poor hillside neighborhood.
To get straight to the point, I had returned to the past.
And I had gained a special ability as well.
Even I have to admit, my ability is ridiculously powerful.
But before anything else, the first thing that caught my eye was a strange window.
It floated in the air, filled with numbers, explanations, and unfamiliar icons arranged in neat rows.
This was clearly reality, yet it didn't feel real at all.
Naturally, I thought I was dreaming.
There was no other way to explain what was happening.
So I closed my eyes and stayed still.
I simply hoped I would wake up.
But nothing happened.
Only time continued to pass.
In the end, I slammed my head against the wall.
That finally brought me to my senses.
Blood formed on my forehead, and pain rushed through me.
This wasn't a dream.
It was reality.
Only then did my mind finally calm down.
My reason returned.
After carefully working things out, I realized that I had gone back twenty-three years.
It's 1996.
The foreign exchange crisis would soon hit.
The entire Republic of Korea would collapse into chaos, and people would lose their jobs one after another.
Families would be torn apart.
Lives would be ruined.
I knew all of it.
This wasn't something I had merely seen on the news.
It had been the reality around me.
So this was an age of despair.
But for me, it was different.
I could see opportunity inside that despair.
Because I was prepared.
Maybe I had even been chosen.
Just as I was trying to organize the chaos in my head, someone barged in without even knocking.
The door flew open roughly, kicking up dust.
An old woman entered the room.
"Are you Taesan?"
I instinctively stood up.
Her hair was completely white, and deep wrinkles covered her face.
But her eyes were clear and powerful.
They were fixed directly on me.
Two men in black suits stood behind her.
They crossed their arms and stared at me without saying a word.
Something about this wasn't normal.
They had definitely come here for a reason.
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy.
"...Who are you?"
I asked calmly, but my thoughts were a mess.
Too much information was flooding into my head at once.
I couldn't organize any of it.
The old woman repeated herself.
"I asked if you're Taesan."
This time, she stepped closer.
I instinctively swallowed.
Her wrinkled face carried the dignity of someone who had lived through countless hardships, and her eyes trembled slightly as if she were trying to see straight through me.
Despite her stiff tone, there was desperation underneath it.
Those eyes wanted to believe that I was "Taesan."
She wasn't simply asking.
She desperately wanted confirmation.
A brief silence passed.
I carefully asked again.
"I am, but... who are you, Grandma?"
I returned the question.
The old woman stared at my face for a long time before muttering in a low voice.
"You look exactly like your mother."
I froze.
My mother...?
The word felt unfamiliar, yet it touched something deep inside my chest.
I had never seen my mother.
I didn't even have a memory of her.
I had been placed in an orphanage as soon as I was born.
There was no one who could explain why.
Ever since I was young, that had been the question I wanted answered most.
Why had I been abandoned?
The only information I had came from the orphanage director.
[The police brought you here. You were wrapped in a baby blanket.]
[It was early in the morning. They said there was blood on your hands.]
I had gone over those words dozens of times while growing up.
At first, I believed them exactly as they were.
But as I got older, questions started to form.
So I asked often.
Whenever I stared at the director and questioned him, he would sigh and shake his head.
[Is that really everything?]
The director always hesitated before answering.
Only after a long pause did he finally say it.
[There was blood on the baby blanket.]
"What?"
I asked again, but he refused to explain further.
Those words stayed buried in one corner of my heart for a long time.
I could never forget them.
They remained there, making me uncomfortable.
At that moment, I understood.
There was something he hadn't told me.
[They said there had been an accident. They couldn't confirm anyone's identity, so they had no choice but to bring you to the orphanage. It seemed like there might be a story behind you, so I didn't send you away for adoption.]
There was sorrow in the director's voice.
When I heard that, it felt as though scattered puzzle pieces had suddenly fallen into place.
Something inside me finally settled.
A small sigh escaped my lips.
When I was young, people often said I was cute and clever.
The teachers liked me.
Even visitors seeing me for the first time showed interest.
I always dressed neatly, and I learned how to smile properly.
Whenever I stood in front of people who might become my adoptive parents, I did my best.
But not a single adoption ever went through.
At the very last moment, they always rejected me.
Now the reason was obvious.
A bloodstained blanket.
A child whose birth couldn't be verified.
From the beginning, I was someone who couldn't be properly classified.
There were no records.
My origins were unknown.
I had no guardian.
The police had simply handed me over to an orphanage.
No one could explain my past.
